You Are My Knight - Optimus Prime x OC

- 36 -

Chicago Outskirts

Noah watches the first helicopter land nearby, a gold and black insignia of an eagle and a star plastered on the helicopter. A familiar face is the first person to hop out. He goes up to shake hands with him after the two make eye contact.

"Good to see you, Diaz," the agent says.

"You too, Chase," Noah replies. The two look out into the city.

"So... looks like we got our work cut out for us."

"Yeah... sorry about that, Jaime," Noah says, sucking his teeth in. "We did our best to try and do the least amount of damage but then our allies went ahead and crashed a giant spaceship into the ground."

"Yup," Jaime says. "I know Egypt was an easier cover up but... I don't think we'll be able to do it this time. Too many eyes and too many casualties. There's been some anti-Cybertronian sentiment recently in government channels... you all need to be careful."

"I know. I'm guessing the next few months after this is gonna be a lot of council meetings," Noah sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "NEST was disbanded earlier so I'm probably gonna get court martialed."

"Nothing you can't handle and hey, if you get kicked out of Sector Seven, maybe you can finally join our team," Jaime says. Noah chuckles. The two look over to the rest of the agents exiting from their vehicles. "I'll see you around, Diaz." Noah nods to him as he walks off.

Highway

After debriefing the crew, Noah and Mirage make their way back to base. The two drive in silence for a bit, the music low and quiet. As Noah leans back in the driver's seat, gripping Mirage's steering wheel, he lets out an irritated sigh.

"What happened to telling me everything, man," Noah asks. The music stops as Mirage's radio lights up.

"I'm sorry, Noah, I wanted to tell you. All of us wanted to tell you guys..." Mirage says.

"I thought-" Noah chokes up briefly, wiping away a stray tear that falls. "I thought you were dead. Just like that." Mirage doesn't reply for a moment. "We've been together almost 20 years, Raj," Noah says. "That's two decades of my life spent with you, when you were gone, I-" he pauses for a moment. "I shut down. I thought I'd be ready for something like this if it ever happened and I... I guess I wasn't."

"...Sometimes I wish I was as reckless as I used to be. Maybe we would have sparkbonded like Bee did and you would have known I was alive..." Mirage says regretfully. "And you wouldn't have been in pain like that." Noah gives a soft smile.

"I don't blame you for growing up," Noah says, patting Mirage's dashboard. "Just... keep me in the loop in the future?"

"If it helps... Arcee was pretty pissed at Prime for making all of us keep it a secret," Mirage says.

"She wanted to tell Wendy," Noah guesses. Mirage gives an mhm. Noah looks up ahead at the road for a moment. "Maybe we should do that. Sparkbond."

"You sure? It's kinda... well, it's a big deal for us."

"Raj, we've been practically married for the past 18 years," Noah says. Mirage laughs and his holoform appears beside Noah, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Mirage's face falls and he gets a more soft look on his face.

"You really wanna be with me the rest of your life?" Mirage asks.

"I know it'd be shitty without you," Noah replies. Mirage grins and kisses Noah sweetly, the car swerving briefly. "WHOA! Eyes on the road!"

Sector Seven Base

Arcee is the first one back to base, the Sector Seven agents tending to her for the time being as Ratchet is still on his way back from Chicago. She lays on the medbay table, she reflects on Chicago. The memory of Wendy almost falling to her death flashes in front of her optics and she freezes up briefly before relaxing. As she stares up into the ceiling in silence, she frowns at the feelings bubbling up inside her chassis. Taking a shaky breath, Arcee covers her face with her servo, face heating up. She eventually goes into recharge, the image of Wendy being safe lulling her into it.